DIRECTOR’S NOTESThere is no national or even local center of communication where companies compare season plans, so it is a curious phenomenon that sometimes a particular story is
produced in many venues around the world almost simultaneously.
This certainly seems to be the case this season with Romeo and Juliet. We and NCSA are doing the play within
a week of one another (NCSA is also doing West Side Story) and a quick Google search turned up an unusually high number of productions of the play, the opera, and the ballet.

Why has this story surfaced in such quantity just now? Is it perhaps because there is so much unholy violence in our world today fueled by ancient grudge? Are we drawn to
stories that reflect the sacrifice of life and youth for the sake of revenge? Do we almost unconsciously seek out the stories that mirror our collective states of mind and heart?